The present invention is particularly applicable in supporting and transporting medical devices used in the care of a patient, and shall be described with particular reference thereto. However, it will be appreciated that the present invention may find advantageous application in supporting and transporting other types of objects in other applications.
In modern hospitals and medical facilities, a great deal of medical equipment is used in the care and treatment of patients. It is quite common for a patient to be connected to a number of different medical devices, such as pumps for administrating intravenous (IV) fluids, monitors, oxygen tanks, electrical strips and the like. Typically, these medical devices are mounted onto a vertical pole, conventionally referred to as an “IV pole.” It has been known to support IV poles on a wheeled base that can be positioned adjacent a hospital bed or can be transported with the bed to another location.
In recent years, the number and size of medical devices routinely attached to a patient has increased, thus requiring more sturdy structures for supporting such equipment. For these and other reasons, it is necessary that a support or pole, and the associated medical devices attached thereto, be firmly supported near a patient. In this respect, mounting a support pole and its associated devices to a rigid, stationary surface, such as a wall or ceiling, is becoming preferable because it provides better structural support for the pole.
At the same time, it is often necessary to transport a patient, together with the medical devices that are operatively connected to the patient, to another location in the hospital for medical procedures or testing. At these times, it is necessary that the support pole and medical devices be easily transferred from the wall or ceiling support to a hospital bed, or to some other type of patient-transfer vehicle, for movement to another location.
The present invention provides a support and transfer device for supporting and transporting one or more medical devices between a wall or ceiling support and a patient-transfer vehicle, which system provides positive transfer from one to another, and vice-a-versa.